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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Abdul R. Dulloo, Frank H. Ruddy, Thomas V. Congedo, John G. Seidel, Robert J. Gehrke
Nuclear Technology | Volume 123 | Number 1 | July 1998 | Pages 103-112
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2883
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Detection of Hg, Cd, and Pb within concrete matrices located in 8-gal drums was successfully demonstrated using a pulsed gamma neutron activation analysis system. Real-time assays of 600 s led to the detection of these metals at concentration levels ranging, in parts per million (ppm) by weight, from 487 to 19 820 for Hg, 485 to 8181 for Cd, and 9927 to 19 950 for Pb. The measurements of Hg and Cd relied on the observation of thermal neutron-induced prompt gamma rays, whereas the Pb measurements relied on the observation of decay gamma rays from 207mPb, a product of fast neutron-induced reactions in Pb. The projected lower limits of detection of the current system for a 600-s run are 15, 170, and 8600 ppm for Cd, Hg, and Pb, respectively. Up to a one-order magnitude of improvement in sensitivity is anticipated through the enhancement of the system's detector and neutron source. The results obtained confirm the potential of prompt and decay gamma neutron activation analysis as an effective method for the nondestructive analysis of hazardous metals in mixed-waste drums.
